Brain Drain to Brain Gain: Global Opportunities Among US Attacks on Intelligentsia

Rebecca Kuiters | United States Fellow

Image sourced from United States Army via Wikimedia Commons.

For centuries the United States has been home to some of the greatest research institutions in the world. Universities like Harvard and Yale have attracted the best and brightest students from across the globe. Alongside Hollywood, education has been the US’ greatest cultural export and means of influence. During one of the twentieth century brain drains that saw millions of East Germans take their intellect and qualifications abroad, the US stood as a safe haven for academics, scientists, students, and researchers to advance in their respective fields. 

Today, following direct attacks on American higher education institutions from the Trump administration, the nation has started to leak its very own best and brightest, with many seeking academic freedom in environments abroad. These circumstances, while unsettling for students and academics within the US, pose an opportunity for other states, like Australia, to advance their research and educational standing globally by acting as a sanctuary for persecuted intellectuals. 

Immigration Insecurity 

Trump’s expressed intention to ban Harvard from matriculating international students has created an environment of severe anxiety for current and potential future students. From German tourists being detained at border security without transparent reasoning to legal residents being shipped away to El Salavador without their right to a fair trial, many students who previously aspired to study in the US are looking at other options. The worst case scenario for deportees used to be the return to one’s home country; now it is the potential deportation to a nation that boasts the world’s largest mega-prison with an unsettling human rights record. 

The US now competes with elite institutions abroad in countries like Canada who offer fast-tracked permanent residency pathways for researchers with advanced skill sets. Instead of threatening and demonising talent, they cultivate it through making the immigration process easier. For example, Canada’s University of Toronto is welcoming international students from Harvard who face US visa challenges as a result of Trump’s attack on the university. The Canadian government also provides streamlined immigration pathways for students and scholars alike to ease immigration anxiety. Government programs like the Express Entry CEC initiative reward talented international students and scholars for studying and working in Canada rather than demonising them.

These strategies implemented by Canada are not necessarily novel or hard for other nations to execute. Notably, Australia offers a similarly streamlined process for study visas and the country boasts a generally positive perception towards international students and researchers. Other nations will be able to capitalise on the masses of international students who would have otherwise strived for an Ivy League education but now seek a less politically fraught educational environment. The message from the Trump administration is fairly clear: students are the future unless they are foreign or politically inconvenient. 

Freedom of Research and Funding

Trump’s ‘war on science’ has been noticed by citizens and academics alike. Not only did he appoint a vaccine skeptic as Health Secretary, but he has projected cutting 40 per cent of the National Institute of Health’s funding for the 2026 fiscal period. Applications by American researchers to continue their work abroad were up 32 per cent within the first three months of the year compared with 2024. What is even more concerning to academics is how volatile and discriminatory funding slashes have been. Trump has not targeted all universities equally, launching special attacks towards universities such as Harvard and the University of California, which pose the greatest political defiance to the President’s ambitions. While widespread divestment may be the Trump administration’s preferred method to exercise control, the significance of its cuts creates a global research vacuum that requires filling. 

World-renowned facism expert Timothy Snyder fled to Toronto expressing concern regarding his intellectual freedom if he continued his work at Yale under Trump’s threats. He shared that while Trump alone wasn’t directly the reason for his departure, he believes it is the ‘reasonable thing to do’ and that more academics would do the same under similar circumstances. This departure is not an outlier, but a resounding signal being felt broadly. If experts on facism are threatened and fleeing, what does that indicate about the trajectory of American public discourse? 

International Responsibility

As we witness the US retreat from its role as powerhouse in research and sanctuary for scholars, the global community has a rare opportunity and responsibility to step up. While the current cuts to research could set US healthcare and technology back, the very research defunded could also impact families abroad down the line. We will not know if the research cut today could contribute to healthcare solutions that could save lives tomorrow. Imagine where the world would be if the researchers behind the polio vaccine had been told their funding would be cut, their visa revoked or that their research was politically inconvenient. 

With six world class ranked universities, Australia has the stature and prestige to set up contingency relationships similar to those arranged with Canada. Australia is in a unique position to provide a culturally and linguistically similar environment for persecuted academics and students along with competitive funding packages if the initiative is backed. However, without organised action, Australia will miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of the US talent exodus. Australia's top institutions and federal government should take decisive action to welcome and collaborate with talent formerly based within the US through expanding migration pathways available for academics and providing professional support. Not only will this action benefit the Australian educational ecosystem, but it will reconcile the much needed, even life-saving, research scratched from the US political agenda.

Rebecca Kuiters is the United States Fellow for Young Australians in International Affairs. Bec is currently completing her Honours in Psychology at the University of Queensland, with a research focus in social psychology and ethics. Raised across several countries, including Qatar and China, Bec spent most of her formative years in Houston, Texas. This global upbringing sparked a strong interest in American politics and shaped a nuanced perspective on the United States' role in global affairs. Having grown up during a time of deep division and political polarisation, she brings a thoughtful, layered lens to conversations around American domestic and foreign policy.